The Right of the People

“A thoughtful and provocative defense of democracy not as an abstraction or inheritance but as an urgent project to engage in right now. T, and the first thing I’’ve read that provides a rigorous vision of how to refound this nation if we manage to survive the current threats to this these core values.”—Chris Hayes“The Right of the People is a thoughtful look at the challenges facing our political system—and a timely reminder of what American democracy can still be. It offers a grounded, practical agenda to try and point us toward a better path.”—Congressman Ro Khanna“New Republic political writer Nwanevu offers remedies for an ailing American democracy… . His writing is vibrant, even optimistic, animated by a clear belief that self-governance is the best kind of governance, and damn the torpedoes. A resounding, persuasive call for a truly inclusive government of the people.”—Kirkus Reviews, starred review“Democracy’s allies have to rethink it both economically and politically, Osita Nwanevu shows, to keep conservatives who are junking democracy from winning, and to keep liberals with little more than hashtags about democracy from oversimplifying the task. With his trademark style, Nwanevu takes readers on a journey, beginning with the Greeks and dwelling on the Founding, to a contemporary America that desperately needs a new democracy to replace its incomplete one.”—Samuel Moyn, Yale University“Nwanevu has a truly remarkable—almost unique—ability to distill a broad range of academic scholarship into a fully accessible argument of his own about the deficiencies of the present American constitutional system and the drastic need for fundamental reform and, indeed, a ‘New American Founding.’ This superb book deserves the widest possible readership—and, more to the point, ensuing discussion and political action generated by his incisive analysis.”—Sanford Levinson, author of Our Undemocratic Constitution

Osita Nwanevu is a contributing editor for The New Republic and a columnist for The Guardian, writing about American politics and culture. He lives in Baltimore. This is his first book.